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Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons™

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Operational Research

1998

Articles 1 - 26 of 26

Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

Feature Saliency In Artificial Neural Networks With Application To Modeling Workload, Kelly A. Greene Dec 1998

Feature Saliency In Artificial Neural Networks With Application To Modeling Workload, Kelly A. Greene

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research extends the current knowledge of feature saliency in artificial neural networks (ANN). Feature saliency measures allow for the user to rank order the features based upon the saliency, or relative importance, of the features. Selecting a parsimonious set of salient input features is crucial to the success of any ANN model. In this research, several methodologies were developed using the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) Feature Screening Method and its associated SNR Saliency Measure for selecting a parsimonious set of salient features to classify pilot workload in addition to air traffic controller workload. Candidate features were derived …

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Development Of An Operations Research Software Package For Army Divisions., Blane C. Wilson Dec 1998

Development Of An Operations Research Software Package For Army Divisions., Blane C. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

There exists great potential for applying operations research techniques to solve specific problems in the areas of operations, installation support, and training at the Army division level. Because of the operational tempo of today's active-duty and reserve component units, command must focus on accomplishing the daily missions. Also, due their limited knowledge of the field, planners may not be aware of how operations research can be used to enhance planning and operations. Time, training funds, resources, safety, personnel, and equipment are all critical factors in this process. Operations research techniques could be used to improve division-level operations by saving time, …

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Cracking The Shell To Student Learning: An Innovative Instructional Approach, John R. Olson, Paul Savory Nov 1998

Cracking The Shell To Student Learning: An Innovative Instructional Approach, John R. Olson, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Management and Industrial Engineering courses is motivating students to learn and apply the quantitative and managerial aspects of the material. The aim of our educational methodology is to not only teach and reinforce the core principles of the disciplines, but to have students develop a set of skills that will make them competitive in the classroom and the workforce. Teaching is why a university exists. As a result, the objective of our instructional approach is to attract and retain dedicated students to the fields of Operations Management and Industrial Engineering and to keep those students competitive and in focus with …

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Using Simulation To Derive Activity-Based Costing Estimates, Paul Savory, Robert Williams Oct 1998

Using Simulation To Derive Activity-Based Costing Estimates, Paul Savory, Robert Williams

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

This presentation showcases integrating activity based costing into the development of a SIMAN simulation of a manufacturing system.

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Study Of Human Factors Variables In Battle Outcome Prediction Models, David Andrew Glovier Apr 1998

Study Of Human Factors Variables In Battle Outcome Prediction Models, David Andrew Glovier

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Over time there have been many improvements in models that are used to predict the outcome of battles. Currently there is much supposition and speculation surrounding the use of human performance related factors as additional inputs to battle simulation models to improve their accuracy. However there is no conclusive scientific evidence which shows that these factors do make a significant difference. This study investigates the use of factors that may impact on the human performance directly or indirectly in battle prediction models. These factors consist of traditional human factors and external factors that may influence the human performance. The research …

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Evaluation Of Airport Operating Efficiencies Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Scott Andrew Cummings Apr 1998

Evaluation Of Airport Operating Efficiencies Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Scott Andrew Cummings

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Airport congestion represents a serious obstacle to the future growth of the air transportation industry in the United States. Future development of new airports, and expansion of existing ones is required to meet the growing demands in domestic and commercial air travel. Globalization of economies and international travel has placed additional burdens on airports nationwide. This growth is requiring airports to operate at peak efficiencies. Economic growth of surrounding industries is dependent on the airport that services that geographical region. The variations in functions that airports offer, and therefore the differences in operations, do not lend themselves to traditional efficiency …

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The Application Of Statistical Sampling Techniques To The Operational Readiness Inspection, Troy L. Dixon, Timothy S. Madgett Mar 1998

The Application Of Statistical Sampling Techniques To The Operational Readiness Inspection, Troy L. Dixon, Timothy S. Madgett

Theses and Dissertations

A Blue Ribbon Commission report to the Air Force Chief of Staff in February 1997 makes several specific recommendations on the conduct of Operational Readiness Inspections. This thesis develops a solution to one of the recommendations of that report; utilize scientifically based sampling techniques to reduce the footprint of the inspection on an evaluated unit. Acceptance sampling, common in industry, is developed for use in the environment of the Operational Readiness Inspection. The time saved from this more efficient sampling practice reduces Inspector General time at an evaluation, decreases the footprint, and answers the specific recommendations of the Blue Ribbon …

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Application Of Decision Analysis To Evaluate Alternative Research And Development Investments., Michael J. Artelli Mar 1998

Application Of Decision Analysis To Evaluate Alternative Research And Development Investments., Michael J. Artelli

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an application of decision analysis techniques to the problem of evaluating competing research and development investments and selecting the best portfolio from among the alternatives. In contrast to the current ad hoc approach, decision analysis provides an explicit and easily explained rationale for investment choices, complete and consistent incorporation of multiple objectives, and direct insight into the effects of uncertain investment returns. A hierarchical objective decomposition was used to capture the user's preference structure. The hierarchy was then used to develop a computer-based decision aid to allow the users to quickly and consistently evaluate technology investment options. …

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Anderson-Darling And Cramer-Von Mises Based Goodness-Of-Fit Tests For The Weibull Distribution With Known Shape Using Normalized Spacings, Eric W. Frisco Mar 1998

Anderson-Darling And Cramer-Von Mises Based Goodness-Of-Fit Tests For The Weibull Distribution With Known Shape Using Normalized Spacings, Eric W. Frisco

Theses and Dissertations

Two new goodness-of-fit tests are developed for the three-parameter Weibull distribution with known shape parameter. These procedures eliminate the need for estimating the unknown location and scale parameters prior to initiating the tests and are easily adapted for censored data. This is accomplished by employing the Anderson-Darling and Cramer-von Mises statistics based on the normalized spacings of the sample data. Critical values of the new tests are obtained for common significance levels by large Monte Carlo simulations for shapes 0.5(0.5)4.0 and sample sizes 5(5)40 with up to 40% censoring (Type II) from the left and/or right. An extensive Monte Carlo …

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The Application Of Sequential Convex Programming To Large-Scale Structural Optimization Problems, Todd A. Sriver Mar 1998

The Application Of Sequential Convex Programming To Large-Scale Structural Optimization Problems, Todd A. Sriver

Theses and Dissertations

Structural design problems are often modeled using finite element methods. Such models are often characterized by constraint functions that are not explicitly defined in terms of the design variables. These functions are typically evaluated through numerical finite element analysis (FEA). Optimizing large-scale structural design models requires computationally expensive FEAs to obtain function and gradient values. An optimization approach which uses the SCP sequential convex programming algorithm of Zillober, integrated as the optimizer in the Automated Structural Optimization System (ASTROS), is tested. The traditional approach forms an explicitly defined approximate subproblem at each design iteration that is solved using the method …

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Parameter Estimation Of The Mixed Generalized Gamma Distribution Using Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Minimum Distance Estimation, Dean G. Boerrigter Mar 1998

Parameter Estimation Of The Mixed Generalized Gamma Distribution Using Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Minimum Distance Estimation, Dean G. Boerrigter

Theses and Dissertations

The Generalized Gamma is an extremely flexible distribution that is useful for reliability modeling. Among its many special cases are the Weibull and Exponential distributions. A mixture of Generalized Gamma Distributions is even more useful because multiple causes of failure can he simultaneously modeled. This research studied parameter estimation of the special cases of the Mixed Generalized Gamma Distribution and built upon them until the full nine-parameter distribution was being estimated. First, special cases of a single Generalized Gamma Distribution were estimated. Next, mixtures of Exponential distributions with both known and unknown location parameters were estimated. Next, mixtures of Weibull …

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A New Sequential Goodness Of Fit Test For The Three-Parameter Weibull Distribution With Known Shape Based On Skewness And Kurtosis, Jonathan C. Clough Mar 1998

A New Sequential Goodness Of Fit Test For The Three-Parameter Weibull Distribution With Known Shape Based On Skewness And Kurtosis, Jonathan C. Clough

Theses and Dissertations

The Weibull distribution finds wide applicability across a broad spectrum of disciplines and is very prevalent in reliability theory. Consequently, numerous statistical tests have been developed to determine whether sample data can be adequately modeled with this distribution. Unfortunately, the majority of these goodness-of-fit tests involve a substantial degree of computational complexity. The study presented here develops and evaluates a new sequential goodness-of-fit test for the three-parameter Weibull distribution with a known shape that delivers power comparable to popular procedures while dramatically reducing computational requirements. The new procedure consists of two distinct tests, using only the sample skewness and sample …

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A Life Cycle Cost Model For Innovative Remediation Technologies, Osman S. Dereli Mar 1998

A Life Cycle Cost Model For Innovative Remediation Technologies, Osman S. Dereli

Theses and Dissertations

LCC analysis is a powerful tool for investigating the costs of competing systems. This thesis investigates the cost scaling methods to improve the traditional LCC modeling techniques. The motivation for this research is finding a good estimate for the remediation technologies when the contaminant volume is not exactly known. This specific case lead researcher to investigating the methods of cost scaling and effects of inflation in the cost estimation. As a result of study a generic LCC model is developed. Methods for considering inflation and scaling are recommended and embodied into the model. The developed model is applied the specific …

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Using Bayesian Statistics In Operational Testing, Thuan H. Tran Mar 1998

Using Bayesian Statistics In Operational Testing, Thuan H. Tran

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the applicability of Bayesian methods to the problem of determining the reliability of a series system, a parallel system, and a bridge system. The time to failure of each component in each system is assumed to be exponentially distributed. A basic exponential case and a basic binomial case are also evaluated. In general, using simulated data and real data when possible, the Bayesian methods produced confidence intervals that were much tighter than the classical inference methods, thus allowing a decision maker to have higher confidence in making a decision. System level data and aggregated component level data …

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Forecasting Market Index Performance Using Population Demographics, Bradley J. Alden Mar 1998

Forecasting Market Index Performance Using Population Demographics, Bradley J. Alden

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempted to verify claims made by forecaster Harry S. Dent, Jr. It utilized regression analysis in order to determine the correlation between the number of births and the closings on a market index with a specified lag between the input and output variables. While the research was able to develop a model with the factor Dent considers the most important, the predictions based on this model did not completely coincide with the forecasts Dent makes. Furthermore, the research could not confirm the accentuation Dent places on a 46-year lag between predictor and response variables. As an extension, scenarios …

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Calculating A Value For Dominant Battlespace Awareness, Eric A. Beene Mar 1998

Calculating A Value For Dominant Battlespace Awareness, Eric A. Beene

Theses and Dissertations

In times of ever-tightening military budgets, methodologies are required that can compare the contributions of various systems involved in the warfighting process. While many tools are in use that directly measure the effects of greater numbers of enhanced hardware, and even improved processes, no validated methodology exists to measure elements that contribute to Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (C4); Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR); or to analytically compare these elements with more traditional hardware. This thesis develops a methodology for mathematically quantifying awareness in a military command and control (C2) environment. This methodology begins with the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act Loop to show …

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Solving Geometric Knapsack Problems Using Tabu Search Heuristics, Christopher A. Chocolaad Mar 1998

Solving Geometric Knapsack Problems Using Tabu Search Heuristics, Christopher A. Chocolaad

Theses and Dissertations

An instance of the geometric knapsack problem occurs in air lift loading where a set of cargo must be chosen to pack in a given fleet of aircraft. This paper demonstrates a new heuristic to solve this problem in a reasonable amount of time with a higher quality solution then previously reported in literature. We also report a new tabu search heuristic to solve geometric knapsack problems.

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An Airlift Hub-And-Spoke Location-Routing Model With Time Windows: Case Study Of The Conus-To-Korea Airlift Problem, David W. Cox Mar 1998

An Airlift Hub-And-Spoke Location-Routing Model With Time Windows: Case Study Of The Conus-To-Korea Airlift Problem, David W. Cox

Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, the United States Air Force's Air Mobility Command (AMC) has used the concept of direct delivery to airlift cargo and passengers from a point of embarkation to a point of debarkation. This study develops an alternative hub-and-spoke combined location-routing integer linear programming prototype model, and uses this model to determine what advantages a hub-and-spoke system offers, and in which scenarios it is better-suited than the direct delivery method. Additionally, the analysis suggests that the C-17 may be better-suited, in certain airlift situations, for theater airlift versus strategic (direct delivery) airlift. The model features the following elements: time windows, cargo …

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A Network Disruption Modeling Tool, James A. Leinart Mar 1998

A Network Disruption Modeling Tool, James A. Leinart

Theses and Dissertations

Given that network disruption has been identified as a military objective and C2-attack has been identified as the mechanism to accomplish this objective, a target set must be acquired and priorities assigned to each target set. In order to move beyond subjective target prioritization, development and implementation of a methodology and model, that quantitatively measures the value of each target in achieving the objective, is needed in prioritizing targets. This thesis effort uses a vertex cut-set algorithm on a transformation of the graph representing a notional network of interest. The cut-sets generated represent potential target sets. Value-focused thinking and decision …

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Cross-Resolution Combat Model Calibration Using Bootstrap Sampling, Bryan S. Livergood Mar 1998

Cross-Resolution Combat Model Calibration Using Bootstrap Sampling, Bryan S. Livergood

Theses and Dissertations

The US Air Force uses many combat simulation models to assist them in performing combat analyses. BRAWLER is a high-resolution air-to-air combat simulation model used for engagement-level analyses of few-on-few air combat. THUNDER is a low-resolution combat simulation model used for campaign-level analyses of theater-level warfare. BRAWLER is frequently used to ensure that THUNDER air-to-air inputs are valid. This thesis describes the confederation of THUNDER and BRAWLER by clearly showing how one particular BRAWLER output, the effectiveness of a missile type, is transformed into THUNDER air-to-air input data. Since BRAWLER is a stochastic simulation model, it is necessary to replicate …

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Analysis Of Alternatives: Multivariate Considerations, John J. Siegner Mar 1998

Analysis Of Alternatives: Multivariate Considerations, John J. Siegner

Theses and Dissertations

The Aeronautical System Center (ASC) is developing a Simulation and Analysis Facility (SIMAF) that will link models, simulations, hardware-in-the-loop, and system-in-the-loop resources to create a robust virtual environment supporting assessment of alternate systems in the defense acquisition process. ENS is assisting ASC with scenario development, experimental design, and battleroom visualization efforts for a SIMAF capability demonstration. This thesis uses multivariate analysis and visualization tools to develop an approach for reducing the dimensionality of multiple campaign level measures of effectiveness for a notional Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) study. Additionally, the thesis advances an AoA visualization paradigm for the SIMAF capability demonstration. …

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A Value Focused Thinking Approach To Academic Course Scheduling, Shane A. Knighton Mar 1998

A Value Focused Thinking Approach To Academic Course Scheduling, Shane A. Knighton

Theses and Dissertations

In 1997, the School of Engineering of the United States Air Force Institute of Technology began exploring ways of automating the academic course scheduling process. The administration desired an expedient approach for course scheduling which supports the institute's mission of "providing scientific and technological education" to officers from all branches of military service, as well as international military forces. The scheduling approach needed to be flexible, efficient, and represent the institute's values and principles. Decision Analysis (DA) and specifically, Value Focused Thinking (VFT), is used to decompose the complex problem of academic course scheduling and determine the factors that are …

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An Advanced Visualization Method For An Operations Research Analysis, Steven C. Oimoen Mar 1998

An Advanced Visualization Method For An Operations Research Analysis, Steven C. Oimoen

Theses and Dissertations

Visualizing multidimensional data using only two dimensions and conventional visualization techniques limits the understanding of the data set. Underlying structures or patterns within the data can easily go unnoticed. In order to gain additional insight into an analysis, incorporation of visualization and multidimensional graphics into the analysis results should be accomplished. The results must ensure that the information portrayed is not misleading or misunderstood. The integrity of the data must be preserved throughout the transformation. The primary objective of this research effort is to identify techniques to visualize multidimensional data and then develop a software tool to display the multidimensional …

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Verification And Validation Of Faarr Model And Data Envelopment Analysis Models For United States Army Recruiting, Gene M. Piskator Mar 1998

Verification And Validation Of Faarr Model And Data Envelopment Analysis Models For United States Army Recruiting, Gene M. Piskator

Theses and Dissertations

This research has two objectives-to verify and validate the U.S. Army's Forecast and Allocation of Army Recruiting Resources (FAARR) model and to develop a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) modeling strategy. First, the FAARR model was verified using a simulation of a known production function and validated using sensitivity analysis and ex-post forecasts. FAARR model forecasts were not accurate and were extremely sensitive to any changes in the model's linear programming constraints and to changes in recruiting resource levels. Second, this research describes a three phase modeling strategy to build accurate DEA models. DEA has become a popular tool to evaluate …

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A Multithreaded Scheduler For A High-Speed Simulator, Gene Saghi, Kirk Reinholtz, Paul Savory Jan 1998

A Multithreaded Scheduler For A High-Speed Simulator, Gene Saghi, Kirk Reinholtz, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The Cassini spacecraft is on its journey to Saturn to perform a close-up study of the Saturnian system; its rings, moons, magneto-sphere, and the planet itself. Sequences of commands will be sent to the spacecraft by ground personnel to control every aspect of the mission. To validate and verify these command sequences, a bit-level, high-speed simulator (HSS) has been developed. To maximize performance, the HSS is implemented with multiple threads and runs on a multiprocessor system. A key component of the HSS is the scheduler, which controls the execution of the simulator. The general framework of the scheduler can be …

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Development Of A Quality Assurance Plan For A Microbrewery, Matthew J. Williams Jan 1998

Development Of A Quality Assurance Plan For A Microbrewery, Matthew J. Williams

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Quality assurance (QA) has become a key factor to business success in the marketplace. Within Australia, companies normally approach QA by implementing formal systems which maintain the consistency of manufacturing processes, and hence, the quality of subsequent output. These systems have increasingly been based upon the international series of standards, ISO 9000.In the food industry, safety is a minimum requirement for food quality. As Governments and food authorities have endeavoured to reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses, they have promoted the implementation of additional systems developed to a specific standard for food safety, namely Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). …

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